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New Paper Explores Policy Options for Improving Democracy Support in the EaP Region

11 August 2016

The research paper “More Effective EU Democracy Support in the Eastern Partnership Ideas for the Slovak EU presidency and beyond” co-authored by Věra Řiháčková (EUROPEUM and Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum), Miriam Lexmann (EU Office of the International Republican Institute), Márton Ugrósdy (Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade) and Richard Youngs (Carnegie Europe) was recently published in the framework of the project: ‘Agenda for reforming EU democracy funding in Eastern Partnership states’. The publication explores potential policy changes the EU might embark upon to address the current challenges in the Eastern Partnership countries with an emphasis on the changing political and geo-strategic dynamics in the region.

The main proposition outlined in the paper suggest that the EU:

uses the ENP and ENI review as a platform for reform;

attains greater buy-in to the democracy agenda across all economic support and security policy measures;

taps into the transition experiences of CEE countries to enhance the efficiency and irreversibility of the reform process in the EaP;

employs a broader understanding of civil society including its marginal and not entirely pro-EU factions;

offers more flexible and tailor-made support to NGOs, new civic actors, political parties and SMEs;

invests in stronger political leadership;

links its democratic support more effectively to its private sector initiatives.